Grace Bible Church Glorifying God by Making Disciples of Jesus Christ

The Church That Jesus Builds Matthew 16:13-20; Mark 8:27-30; Luke 9:18-21 This passage gives a clear description of spiritual blindness and God’s mercy to give man the truth

The Setting Matthew 16:13; Mark 8:27; Luke 9:18 During this period Jesus consistently “withdraws” from crowds, but crowds find Him again anyway

The Setting Matthew 14; Mark 6; Luke 9; John 6 Jesus travels from Capernaum to Bethsaida Then to Gennesaret Then to Capernaum

The Setting Matt 15; Mark 7 Jesus travels from Capernaum to the region of Tyre, then to the region of Decapolis

The Setting Matthew 15-16; Mark 8 Jesus travels from Decapolis to Magadan Then to Bethsaida

The Setting Matt 16; Mark 8; Luke 9 Jesus travels from Bethsaida to the region of Caesarea - Philippi

Who Is the Son of Man? Matthew 16:13-17; Mark 8:27; Luke 9:18 Jesus wants a report on how the common people are responding to Him and His message

What the People Said Matthew 16:14; Mark 8:28; Luke 9:19 John the Baptist - Herod’s advisors advocated this  in ignorance Jesus & John were contemporaries Elijah - based on Malachi 4:5  but unaware Jesus already had said John the Baptist fulfilled this role

What the People Said Matthew 16:14; Mark 8:28; Luke 9:19 Jeremiah the Prophet - based on a tradition –  without basis in Scripture & not true An unnamed prophet –  at least honest enough to say they did not know and were confused

What the People Said Matthew 16:14; Mark 8:28; Luke 9:19 They believed Jesus was a special person, but even His miracles did not convince them He was Messiah

What the People Said Matthew 16:14; Mark 8:28; Luke 9:19 People today claims Jesus to be a great  philosopher  moral example  model of life  Teacher  Superstar

What the People Said Matthew 16:14; Mark 8:28; Luke 9:19 People are “blinded by the god of this age” and do not believe even when there are signs and miracles

Peter’s Confession Matthew 16:15-17; Mark 8:29; Luke 9:20 Jesus asks the disciples what they believed about Him Peter answers on behalf of all, A) Jesus is the Christ = Messiah = The Anointed One B) Jesus is the son of the God the living one

Peter’s Confession Matthew 16:15-17; Mark 8:29; Luke 9:20 The disciples had greater proximity to Jesus, but the crowds also saw His miracles and heard His teaching Matthew 16:17 - God, not humans, revealed the truth to Simon Human wisdom cannot comprehend the things of God - 1 Corinthians 2:14

Peter’s Confession Matthew 16:15-17; Mark 8:29; Luke 9:20 Human wisdom is foolish (1 Cor. 3:19) & his righteous deeds are filthy (Isa 64:6) Salvation from sin comes by  God’s grace alone  through faith alone  in Jesus Christ alone

Peter’s Confession Matthew 16:15-17; Mark 8:29; Luke 9:20 Who do you say Jesus is? What you truly believe is demonstrated by how you live

The Rock of the Church Matthew 16:18 To whom or what does “upon this rock” refer? This text is present in all manuscript types, so it cannot be ignored or claimed to be an added gloss The Roman Catholic Church claims vs. 18 & 19 are the basis of Peter being the first Pope & RCC authority

Why Peter is not the first “Pope” 1) The authority given to Peter in vs. 19 is also given to all the apostles in Matthew 18:18 2) Peter never claimed any greater authority -  He was a “fellow elder” (1 Pt 5:1),  A “bond-servant” (2 Pt 1:1)

Why Peter is not the first “Pope” 3) Peter never exercised any supremacy over any of the other apostles 4) There are no Biblical passages that support even the idea of apostolic succession

The Rock of the Church Matthew 16:18 Denial of Peter as a reference to “this rock” are often a reaction to the RCC - a poor basis of interpretation Differences in pevtroV / petros and pevtra / petra are used to suggest either Peter’s confession or Jesus is the “rock”

The Rock of the Church Matthew 16:18 petra means bedrock & petros can mean stone, but the NT only uses petros to refer to Simon (Cephas) petra is feminine & petros is masculine, and “this petra” makes reference to other than petros unnatural

The Rock of the Church Matthew 16:18 Peter is the rock upon which Jesus will build, but Jesus Himself is the foundation (1 Cor. 3:11; Eph. 2:20) Peter is the primary spokesman in the early church (Acts 1-12), but James, not Peter, is the leader by Acts 15

The Builder of the Church Matthew 16:18 The action and emphasis of verse 18 is on the builder of the church - Jesus Jesus builds His church - not Peter, a denomination, a pastor, or a missionary

The Builder of the Church Matthew 16:18 A building is made of many different materials crafted and put into place by the builder Jesus has used Peter and every other Christian as He desire to build His church - 1 Peter 2:4-5

The Builder of the Church Matthew 16:18 Are you ready and willing to be used by the Lord however He desires as He builds His church?

The Strength of the Church Matthew 16:18 The church Jesus builds will not be limited by outside factors This is the gates of “Hades,” not Hell - it is a reference to death, not to attacks by the devil Gates signify the boundary of authority - death draws all men within its gates and so prevails / overcomes

The Strength of the Church Matthew 16:18 Death does not overcome the church because its master builder conquered death and lives eternally Jesus continues to build His church through His present ministry, the Holy Spirit, and His Word

The Authority of the Church Matthew 16:19-20 The same authority given to Peter here is given to all the apostles in Matthew 18:18. “keys to the kingdom” is the power to admit or refuse admittance - the gospel unlocks & locks the door

The Authority of the Church Matthew 16:19-20 “Binding & loosing” has nothing to do with Satan or demons - it is “whatever” not “whomever” It is a matter of forbidding and permitting - the authority to discipline (John 20:23) based on Scripture

The Authority of the Church Matthew 16:19-20 There would be a proper time and place to announce Jesus is the Christ - and it was not yet that time

Who is Jesus to you? Are you ready and willing to be used by Jesus as He desires?

Grace Bible Church Glorifying God by Making Disciples of Jesus Christ